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International global warming report lays out the critical challenge

A special report on global warming, released today, has laid out a strong case for countries to make every effort to limit temperature rise to 1.5o Celsius above pre-industrial levels, says the Minister for Climate Change James Shaw.

“The special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that a host of climate-related risks; from sea level rise, to food and water supplies, security, and health issues will be worse if global temperatures rise to 2o rather than 1.5o.

“The report also warns that the next two decades are crucial in limiting global warming to 1.5oC as opposed to 2oC, with the IPCC saying that it is likely that global warming will reach 1.5oC between 2030 and 2052, if warming continues at the current rate.

“The good news is that the IPCC’s report is broadly in line with this Government’s direction on climate change and it’s highly relevant to the work we are doing with the Zero Carbon Bill.